173 Ramen Restaurant is a newly opened coffee shop on the busy Macalister Road. This stall has an impressive variety of offerings, besides hand-pulled noodles (la mian), there are also other specialties such as homemade prawn wanton and fish balls.

The owner, Mr Loh starts his day making the hand-pulled noodles in the kitchen. The hand-pulled noodles, have a certain tenderness and texture, which makes it extremely different from mass made noodles. The noodle is available in two sizes –thick and rounded or string-thin. Mr Loh said that the texture and the feeling of the noodle are justas important as its flavor!

The first dish that we had under the noodle section is the spicy “ma la” noodle, which is the highlight of 173. The fine noodle is served in black sauce with a dollop of chili-red paste (also handmade), a Sichuan specialty with heat, it contains chilies and numbing peppercorns.This is one dish that I will definitely order every time I visit.

Priced at RM3.50, the dish comes with pieces of barbecued pork (char siew), chicken, fish balls, vegetables and aromatic chili paste. With the right thickness and nice chewy bite, the noodles absorbed every drop of robust flavor from the spicy and tingly chili paste. For those who prefer less spicy, be sure to inform Mr Loh.

For the bowl of thick rounded noodle soup,MrLoh added toppings of mushroom, fish balls, chicken and minced meat. On the whole, the soup is flavorful and sweet. The noodles, again, is equally excellent, with the same chewy texture and soft center.

Koayteow (kwayteow to us Singaporeans) lovers should try both the koayteowth’ng and the dried version. The latter at RM2.80 is served tossed with black sauce and complemented with reasonable servings of chicken, fish balls and minced meat.

There are plenty of side-orders to choose from at 173. Both the prawn wanton and fish ballsare served in light broth. Quite plump in size, the wanton comes with a nice filling of fresh prawns. The fish balls made from Mackerel has a springy bite and is best eaten dipped in soy sauce with chili padi.

Besides hearty bowls of noodles, wantons and fishballs, 173 also serves Hainan chicken rice (RM3.70), blanched vegetables (from RM3 to RM5) and braised meat which is a mix of pork, chicken feet, egg and bean curd.

Other selections of meats include white chicken,siewbak (roast pork) and charred barbecue pork (char siew). Plain noodles are offered to go with the meat which is served with a garlicky chilli dipping sauce.

Relatively new, 173 Ramen Restaurant is a great place for a quick and tasty meal. The stall is open early morning, from 8am until 5pm in the evening. It is hard to miss this place. It is located opposite Loh Guan Lye Specialist Centre and a few doors away from the Sister’s Char KoayTeow.

173 Ramen Restaurant

173 Macalister Road 10400 Penang

Tel: 04-2263835